The article discusses the problem of using the linguistic and didactic potential of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in teaching Russian as a foreign language (RFL). The relevance of the research is determined by the need of finding ways to optimize the educational process in the context of education digitalization. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the principles of RFL teaching using AI technologies based on theoretical provisions: the principles of interactivity, gamification, rationality, multimodality, individualization, accessibility, communication and the principle of students’ psychological adaptation to AI. These principles should be taken into account when developing tasks created using artificial intelligence tools (Alice, ChatGPT, DeepSeek). The authors prove that the consistent implementation of the proposed teaching principles makes it possible to effectively use the capabilities of AI tools (adaptive platforms, Chatbots and natural language processing systems) to form communicative competence in a foreign language, without replacing the functions of a teacher. Examples of tasks developed using AI (level A1+) are given.